Rick Reilly makes his ESPN debut

[Bullwinkle]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3422420

 

[pseudo]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/57039/

 

[Bullwinkle]

I totally suck.

 

[WriteThinking]

Don't feel bad, Bullwinkle.

Reilly did make a broadcast sportscasting debut (I think) on the Belmont Stakes pre-race show a little while ago, giving 10 reasons he likes Big Brown to win the Triple Crown.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Oh, I posted the column?

I meant to link to the broadcast. ;D

 

[Joe Williams]

Don't feel bad, Bullwinkle.

Reilly did make a broadcast sportscasting debut (I think) on the Belmont Stakes pre-race show a little while ago, giving 10 reasons he likes Big Brown to win the Triple Crown.

The SI jinx lives on, despite the change of address!

 

[jgmacg]

I know this is the internet, and that therefore none of the historic standards of copyright or fair usage apply - because, hey, information wants to be free - but can you not post the whole column? Since all of us sort of still depend on, you know, people actually visiting the sites we work for to read the things we write?

Thanks.

 

[clutchcargo]

I certainly don't cry every time I read a Reilly column that attempts to tug at the heart, as he sometimes tries to force it.

This column was an exception. It had me reaching for the Kleenix.

 

[trifectarich]

God, he was terrible at the Belmont.

Keep him in front of his laptop and away from the television cameras.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

God, he was terrible at the Belmont.

Keep him in front of his laptop and away from the television cameras.


I'm not a strong Reilly fanboi, but it's not fair to compare him to Deford, especially regarding the horses. Deford really likes the game, and it's a rare Saratoga meeting during which he doesn't grace the premises.

 

[Joe Williams]

I suppose the public's perceived appetite for father-son B.S. never gets sated, but I, for one, am tired of the concept. If we're not writing about some athlete who had a a) great or b) lousy relationship with his dad, we're writing about ourselves and a) how much we love the old guy, or b) how wretched the old guy made life for us, our siblings and our mothers. Or some combination of the above.

Everybody had a dad, lousy or great. Nothing to see here. Let's move on. (Lest you think I'm touchy on the subject, me and my old man were somewhere in the middle. He's gone now. I try to be like him in some ways and not in others. Zzzzzzzz.)

 

[TheMethod]

I suppose the public's perceived appetite for father-son B.S. never gets sated, but I, for one, am tired of the concept. If we're not writing about some athlete who had a a) great or b) lousy relationship with his dad, we're writing about ourselves and a) how much we love the old guy, or b) how wretched the old guy made life for us, our siblings and our mothers. Or some combination of the above.

Everybody had a dad, lousy or great. Nothing to see here. Let's move on. (Lest you think I'm touchy on the subject, me and my old man were somewhere in the middle. He's gone now. I try to be like him in some ways and not in others. Zzzzzzzz.)

There are no new stories under the sun.

 

[henryhenry]

exceptionally well-written, even by reilly's standards.

he needed to hit a home run on his first swing, and he did.

as contrasted to selena roberts on her first effort to fill reilly's old space.

 

[Boobie Miles]

I suppose the public's perceived appetite for father-son B.S. never gets sated, but I, for one, am tired of the concept. If we're not writing about some athlete who had a a) great or b) lousy relationship with his dad, we're writing about ourselves and a) how much we love the old guy, or b) how wretched the old guy made life for us, our siblings and our mothers. Or some combination of the above.

Everybody had a dad, lousy or great. Nothing to see here. Let's move on. (Lest you think I'm touchy on the subject, me and my old man were somewhere in the middle. He's gone now. I try to be like him in some ways and not in others. Zzzzzzzz.)

There are no new stories under the sun.

I agree. Every variation of everything has been done by now. If you can write it well and with your own touch, write away.

 

[Songbird]

I really liked this line:

Golf taught me the lessons my dad never did, including the best one: You play life where it lies.

And the rest of it was solid.

 

[Monroe Stahr]

If this is a "home run," then they must have moved in the fences. It's bad enough that sportswriters write this crap -- in endless torrents -- about athletes. When they start writing it about themselves . . . which way to the vomitorium?

 

[Songbird]

What do you want him to write? Keeping in mind the mag is for Gen Y ...

Yo yo yo, homeslices! What up, bizzos?! I'm totally stoked to be in this trippindicular sports mag, yo. Like, total amplitude! This is my first column, yo, and I'm kickin' it old school cuz I'm fly like that.

Not sure how you would've wanted him to approach his first column, Monroe. But there's nothing wrong with something breezy like his introduction piece.

 

[Monroe Stahr]

You'd describe a column about an abusive father as "breezy"? Good God.

 

[Songbird]

Breezy as in easy to read.

 

[Monroe Stahr]

Breezy suggests more than just an "easy read." It implies a certain lightness. I can't think of much that's heavier than an alcoholic father who battered his wife and kids. But that's just me.